Former French culture minister to lead Cannes des Series festival

Fleur Pellerin, former French culture minister, has been announced as the president of the inaugural International Cannes Festival of Series.

The event, which will run alongside MipTV, will debut in April 2018.

The drama festival has been devised in partnership with Reed Midem, organiser of the TV and content markets MipTV and MIPCOM, as well as French broadcaster Canal+. Cannes mayor David Lisnard has also been one the driving forces behind the festival.

“I’m honoured for the trust given to me and will carry with passion the ambitions of this rendezvous, for both professionals and the public, so that it imposes itself on the international calendar,” Pellerin said in a statement.

“There are no leading international events about TV series, even though this form of production has become very important in the realm of creative and broadcasting production."

“As minister of culture, I wanted France to take on the opportunity and create a reference in that field. The mayor of Cannes, David Lisnard, had already been working on this idea for many years. The grand project that he is offering today is therefore the result of a profound reflection on both the artistic and the logistic sides.”